Items tagged with laptop

The 2-in-1 and convertible PC space has changed significantly over the past couple of years. What was once a cluttered mess of kludges is now a well-defined market segment packed with refinement, power, and plenty of options. You could partially credit Microsoft's Surface line for making 2-in-1s an object of desire, but it's also products like the Dell XPS 12 that make today's line-up of convertible devices so much more interesting. Dell's XPS 12, which was first announced last fall, is just as capable as a laptop as it is a tablet. That's no small feat, and it's multifaceted abilities are largely...Read more...

Chinese manufacturer Huawei trotted out a 2-in-1 device at Mobile World Congress 2016, one that looks like a less expensive alternative to Microsoft's Surface Pro line. Called the MateBook, pricing starts at a comparatively affordable $699/€799 for a configuration that's similar to an entry-level Surface Pro 4. All MateBook configurations sport a 12-inch In-Plane Switching (IPS) multi-touch display with a 2160x1440 resolution. It has an ultra-narrow frame and an advertised screen-to-body ratio of 84 percent. According to Huawei, the display's color gamut reaches 85 percent—not top of the line,...Read more...

We had good things to say about Asus’ super-slim ZenBook UX305 when we evaluated it early last year. Attractive, sturdy, and downright tiny, the UX305 was a good value for the price, and it had good looks too. A year later, the ZenBook is back with the updated UX305CA, so we got one in to see if the newer version is as balanced a machine as last year’s model. The Zenbook UX305CA we will be showing you here has Windows 10 and an updated Core M processor, along with improved graphics, but many things haven’t changed: it’s still tiny, it has the same wedge design and the lid still props the keyboard...Read more...

You could almost hear the collective groan from the enthusiast community when Dell announced it had purchased Alienware, in what now feels like 100 years ago. It has actually been just shy of a decade since Dell took ownership, and rather than let the Alienware brand wither into irrelevance like some other boutique vendors that were later absorbed by major OEMs (Voodoo who?), Dell's gaming gear division has continued to thrive and innovate with the help of the company's deeper resources. If we're being totally honest (as we always are), passionate consumers come out of the woodwork whenever the...Read more...

What a difference a year can make. Now that Intel's Skylake processors are widely available, desktop, tablets, and hybrid convertibles are all being refreshed with the latest hardware. Lenovo, for example, recently introduced its Yoga 900. Though the nomenclature has changed a bit, this machine is effectively a revised Yoga 3 Pro. The unique watchband hinge should all but give it away; it's the token feature on a potent, high-powered machine that acts first and foremost as a laptop, and secondarily as a slate. That's something we've also seen recently from Microsoft with its Surface Book and...Read more...

Intel's 6th Generation Skylake family of Core processors has been available for some time now. We previously gave you a look at the desktop variant that Intel initially rolled out. However, the mobile variant of Skylake is perhaps Intel's most potent incarnation of the new architecture that's power-optimized on 14nm technology and with a beefier graphics engine, for more capable thin and light notebooks. In late Q3, Intel started rolling out Skylake-U versions of the chip in a 15 Watt TDP flavor. This is the power envelope that most "ultrabooks" are built with and it's likely to be Intel's highest...Read more...

Windows 10 may be a free upgrade for many of us, but Microsoft’s newest operating system still has the potential to drive PC sales. One reason some customers may decide to pick up a new system is Windows Hello, the feature that recognizes your face when you log in. Toshiba is banking on that feature being a draw for its new Satellite Radius 12 two-in-one, which is one of the smallest laptops to sport both the necessary Windows Hello hardware and a 4K display. The key to Windows Hello is the camera, which makes use of depth-sensing technology to provide Windows Hello with the image of your face...Read more...

We learned just earlier about the release of Seagate's mammoth 8TB enterprise hard drives, and as we now see, that wasn't the only trick the company had up its sleeves today. Also announced is a brand-new mobile hard drive that packs a staggering 2TB under its 7mm hood. While 2TB mobile hard drives are not new, a drive that offers such high density into this particular thickness is. It means that those wanting the thinnest notebooks possible won't need to sacrifice overall storage. 2TB of storage in an Ultrabook is quite dreamy. Despite the drive's small size, it should also be a fairly good performer...Read more...

The wealth of ultraportable laptops continues to grow, and we're seeing a more varied array of options than ever before. Be it 2-in-1s like Asus' T300 Chi or a tablet-gone-laptop like Microsoft's Surface 3, those in the market for a mobile computer have plenty of options these days. As manufacturers seek out their own differentiation, we're seeing Lenovo carve out its own special space in the sector with their new LaVie Z series of ultralight notebooks. The LaVie Z and LaVie Z 360 are similar machines, hence our doubled-up review here. The innards are identical, and their dimensions are too. The...Read more...

For years, the notion of a tablet replacing one's laptop was a novel idea, but hardly feasible. Much has changed in recent times, however, with Microsoft going so far as to claim that its newest Surface units are indeed powerful enough to take the place of a bonafide laptop. It's that push that has gotten the attention of the entire industry, with everyone from Lenovo to Asus and now Dell pushing out potent 2-in-1 units that manage to straddle the line between slate and laptop with very little compromise.The Inspiron 13 7000 is Dell's latest two-faced unit, and the one we're testing is a top-spec...Read more...

Acer is hoping to attract users who want flexibility with the company’s latest Aspire R 13 convertible notebook. Featuring their semi-unique "Ezel Aero" hinge, the R 13 can convert between various notebook and tablet style modes, giving you six different usage positions in a thin and light design.The Acer Aspire R 13 measures less than an inch thick and weighs just over 3 pounds. You’ll find a 13.3-inch touch screen display with two resolution options depending on model chosen. This display is affixed to a hinge at the sides which enables it to rotate 180-degrees. For greater stability, Acer uses...Read more...

The engineering wizards at Apple have designed a laptop that's lighter than Air...the MacBook Air, that is. It's the new MacBook (early 2015 edition), a forward-thinking laptop that measures just 11.04 inches (W) by 7.74 inches (D) by 0.14-0.52 inches (H), and weighs a mere 2.03 pounds. The super thin and light profile is what prompted Apple's clever tagline, "Light. Years ahead."At 2.38 pounds, the 11.6-inch MacBook Air is slightly heavier than the 12-inch MacBook we'll be showing you here. It's also marginally thicker at its highest point (0.68 inches), though a tad thinner where it tapers off...Read more...

Before you even think about shopping for an Apple MacBook Pro for professional chores on the go, Dell wants you to give a long, hard look at its recently redesigned Precision M3800 Mobile Workstation. According to Dell, the M3800 is a superior product in several ways, and the OEM even put together an infographic showing more than half a dozen reasons why its 15.6-inch laptop is a better solution than Apple's. Assuming you opted for the optional 4K Ultra HD touch display with second generation IGZO technology, one of those reasons is more on-screen real estate. A lot more. The M3800 equipped as...Read more...

If you don't want to pay full price for a Surface Pro 3 tablet, then all you need is a little patience. We say this because Microsoft is pretty good about running sales and promotions on a fairly consistent basis, though some have a tendency to slip under the radar since there's usually no announcement. For example, you can currently score a select Surface Pro 3 for $150 off retail, though you won't find a press release or Microsoft blog post promoting the sale.At present, it's the Core i5 model with 256GB of storage that's on sale. It's currently marked down to $1,149 versus its normal selling...Read more...